Condit: I did not have an affair with Chandra
NBC News/‘Today’ exclusive: In lawsuit tapes, Gary Condit talks about his relationship with murdered intern Chandra LevyToday show
Updated: 7:50 a.m. ET Jan. 11, 2005U.S. Congressman Gary Condit was the focus of an intense media frenzy in the spring of 2001 when he was investigated in the disappearance of 24-year-old Chandra Levy, an intern for the Federal Bureau of Prisons.
Levy's body was found in a Washington, D.C., park in May 2002, but no one has ever been charged with her murder and police have not named any suspects.
In exclusive deposition tapes obtained by NBC News, Condit speaks about his friendship with Levy. The tapes are part of an $11 million defamation lawsuit Condit has filed against Court TV anchor Dominic Dunne over some of his reporting in the Levy case.
Former U.S. Representative Gary Condit: I swear to tell the whole truth, and nothing but the truth….
Attorney: Can you in general terms describe your relationship with Ms. Levy?
Condit: We were friends.
Attorney: Did your relationship ever become a romantic relationship?
Condit: No.
Attorney: When you say you were friends, did it ever become more than just friendship?
Condit: No.
The married 56-year-old from northern California insisted it was never more than that.
Attorney: Did she ever indicate that she loved you?
Condit: No.
Attorney: Did you and Chandra Levy ever discuss your marriage?
Condit: No.
Attorney: Did you ever discuss your wife with Ms. Levy?
Condit: No.
As the deposition continues, Condit acknowledges that the relationship with Levy was ongoing but insists that it was limited, before his lawyer objects to the line of questioning from Dominic Dunne's attorney.
Attorney: Did this relationship continue steadily throughout the time you knew her before she disappeared?
Condit: Yes.
Attorney: Did she ever discuss having a relationship that was more than friends at some future date?
Condit: No.
Lin Wood (Condit’s attorney): I'm going to object, excuse me….
Condit: I'm sorry….
Mr. Wood: … to the extent that it seeks to go into areas of sexual conduct.
Next month, however, Condit will face another round of questions about any possible sexual relationship he and Levy may have had in the months leading up to her disappearance.
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Speculation over the nature of Condit's friendship with Levy dominated the news for months in 2001, a period Condit recalled during the deposition:
Condit: Her disappearance and the whereabouts of her was all over TV, and there were news people who wanted to talk to me around the clock. It was not comfortable because they were everywhere.
Many at the time said Condit was not forthcoming enough and that he didn't show enough concern, fueling speculation he was somehow involved in her disappearance, a charge he dismissed as ludicrous.
Condit: I'm not obligated to hold a news conference every five minutes to deny some stupid charge that someone has made.
Condit believes the media misrepresented his relationship with Levy — that it wasn't as close as reported in the press. Under oath, he denies ever visiting her apartment.
Attorney: You've never seen her apartment?
Condit: I just told you I didn't go to her apartment, so that means I didn't see it.
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